Follow us on Social Media

Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea (Getty)

We’re still three months away from the start of the 2018 NFL season and the Dallas Cowboys are already making headlines for all of the wrong reasons.

Erica Wilkins, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, is reportedly suing the team for violating the The Equal Pay Act and Fair Labor Standards Act. According to WFAA-TV in Dallas, Wilkins alleges the team failed to per her minimum wage and overtime during her three-year stint as a “Cowgirl.”

Wilkins’ attorney said she was paid $8 an hour. However, the suit says that Wilkins was, “…not paid for all hours worked when paid on an hourly basis.”

The suit goes on to say that Wilkins wasn’t paid when she attended some meetings that were filmed for a reality show surrounding the storied cheerleaders that aired on CMT called ‘Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.’

During Wilkins’ duration with the team, she also wasn’t paid what she was owed in overtime wages according to the filed documents.

One paragraph reads, “…Plaintiff was not paid time and one-half her regular rate of pay for each hour worked over 40 in each workweek during her employment with the defendant.”

In addition to the alleged violations of The Equal Pay Act and Fair Labor Standards Act, Erica Wilkins also claims the Dallas Cowboys paid Rowdy, the team mascot, upwards of $65,000 yearly while the most she made in a season was $16,516.01.

(Photo: Wesley Hitt (Getty)

“They’re profiting off our images and our bodies that we work so hard to keep in shape,” Wilkins stated. “We put in so much work and not to be compensated fairly is really an injustice.”

The Dallas Cowboys have yet to release an official statement on the allegations.

Wilkins’ suit marks the fourth time this offseason an NFL cheerleader has sued her former team, with the New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins all currently facing their own legal battles. But, hey, at least the president is still a fan, right?